Beginning his AFL career in 1992, ‘Kouta' quickly established himself as oneof the most versatile and athletic players ever to play the game. Of Greek andNorthern Italian heritage, Koutoufides made an early choice to switch from trackand field athletics to Australian rules football. A pin-up boy not only at Carlton, in November 2006 won the final of Channel7's hit show Dancing with the Stars. Kouta has never been far from the news (hisreported $1 million contract caused a huge stir) but there have been very fewplayers who could match Koutoufides' sheer dominance in the late ‘90s, and athis best he is simply indestructible. Koutoufides was the Brownlow Medal favourite in 2000, the year in which hewon the Leigh Matthews Trophy for the league's Most Valuable Player, as chosenby the players. He won the Carlton Best & Fairest in 2001 & 2005, received AllAustralian honours in 1995 & 2000, and was one of the best on field in Carlton's1995 Grand Final win. He also played in Carlton pre-season premiership teamsin 1997, 2005 and 2007. Koutoufides has felt the exhilaration of the highs but also suffered the lows. Hewas the was Carlton Captain during the tumultuous period between 2003-2006,when the club was in financial crisis, and twice finished bottom of the ladder. In Kouta, Anthony speaks candidly about his amazing football career, his lifeoutside of football and how the game has changed during his time at the top.
